Water Lilies, 1914–26

September 13, 2009, at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, marked the first unveiling since 2004 of the museum’s full collection of later period paintings by Claude Monet. 'Monet’s Water Lilies' is an outstanding exhibition, featuring world-renowned works such as 'Le Pont Japonais' c.1920–1922 and 'Agapanthus', 1914–26. The museum has an exiting calendar of events running concurrent with the exhibition. 'Mornings with Monet' allows small groups of visitors to enjoy 'Water Lilies', 1914-1926 for one hour before the museum opens to the public. Guided by an art historian, learn as you look at this magnificent and significant work from the Impressionist period. There is also a series of talks by Ann Temkin, the organiser of the 'Monet’s Water Lilies' exhibition.

As a young artist, Claude Monet had the opportunity to admire the works of the Barbizon School of painters at the 1859 Salon. In the mid-1800s these artists (including Théodore Rousseau, Charles-François Daubigny and Eugène Delacroix) sowed the seeds for the Impressionist movement. They advocated sketching what they saw from nature, rather than the traditional formalism of strictly indoor studio painting. Every summer they would visit the small town of Barbizon, in the Forest of Fontainbleu, to paint 'en plein air' (lit. ‘in the open air’).

Eugène Boudin first introduced Monet to working 'en plein air' when he invited him to paint at the town of Rouelles, near Le Havre. In a letter to a friend, Monet described this experience as being, ‘…like the rending of a veil,’ and that, ‘Gradually my eyes were opened, and I understood nature; at the same time I learned to love her.’ While Impressionist works are today amongst the best loved in the history of art, the path to such celebrated heights was bumpy. In contrast to an academic work, which an artist often took many years to complete, Impressionist works were criticised as being mere sketches that could be completed in an afternoon. The art critic and celebrated playwright Louis Leroy, having viewed Monet’s ’Impression: Sunrise’ at an independent exhibition in 1874, caustically wrote that, ‘Wallpaper in its embryonic state is more finished than that seascape.’ His review of the exhibition, in which the statement appeared, was published in the satirical newspaper 'Le Charivari' (April 25, 1874) under the derisory heading 'Exposition des Impressionists'. The artists balked at this insult but the title, Impressionists, stuck.

The Japanese Footbridge [Le Pont japonais], c.1920–22	Agapanthus, 1914–26

Monet stands at the head of the Impressionist movement. His keen study of colour and light, as it naturally appeared in life, was transferred to the canvas with speedy and featherlight brushstrokes. He captured, in oils, what appear to be fleeting and seemingly ordinary moments; yet they appear to us now as remarkable moments. 'Snapshots' rendered on canvas on a particular day in particular month in a particular year; moments that would have been lost forever had Monet not been there to depict them. In 1890, Monet purchased his house at Giverny and began his works in series; these include 'Haystacks', 1890-1891 and 'Poplars'. In 1891, he created a water lily pond and set to work on his series of 'Water Lilies'. These later works, showing at MoMA until April 12, 2010, were painted when Monet’s eyesight was failing. 'Le Pont Japonais' c.1920-22, for example, was painted when Monet was almost blind from cataracts. Following an operation in one eye, in 1923, Monet’s sight improved and he resumed his work. Monet died on December 5, 1926. Only a wheat sheaf adorned his coffin, following his instructions to his family for there to be no flowers. Monet had said, “It would be a sacrilege to plunder the flowers of my garden for an occasion such as this." Monet’s life’s work is summed up perfectly in his own words. "All I did was to look at what the universe showed me, to let my brush bear witness to it."

Rachel C. Smith 2009 United Kingdom